


Tomato salad

by Tantaylor



Category: Duran Duran
Genre: Dom/sub, Hide and Seek, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:53:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26563186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tantaylor/pseuds/Tantaylor
Summary: Their tour is sponsored by an homophobic company, and Roger and Nick have to hide their feelings for each other. What is harder than thought.
Relationships: Nick Rhodes/Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Tomato salad

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my mother-tongue, no beta.  
> Please leave feedback.  
> thank you

This was way harder than he imagined it to be. In fact, it was pure torture. And Roger indeed knew a lot about torture. Last night, for example, that was a very exquisite torture, an extremely fulfilling...ah, what?

Simon, who was sitting next to him, had roughly rammed his elbow into his ribs.

_Hell, Taylor, concentrate._

Roger cleared his throat. "Excuse me, what was the question?"

God, he hated press conferences. He'd always hated them, even if it was for different reasons now than it was then.  
He was not allowed to let anything show. And that was hard. It was, as mentioned, pure torture. A torture where he would have loved to use his safe word, if only he could.

Nick was sitting far away and he couldn't even look at him.

Because anyone who wasn't completely blind would have seen it.  
All his love, all his devotion for this beautiful man.  
Nick had certainly not missed his inattention. 

_Uh. Punishment. Sweet, exquisite punishment. Yes, sir, please._

Roger felt his cheeks warming as he smiled at the young woman who had obviously asked him something, and he almost chuckled as she was mirroring his blush.

“A lot of female fans would certainly like to know, Roger, is there a new woman in your life?”

Simon chuckled quietly.

Because they knew, of course, their friends. Not all of it. But yes, that he and Nick were a couple. Roger leaned forward to decipher the woman's name tag.

"No, Miss Gibson. There is no woman."  
He hoped it sounded somehow regrettable, although there was nothing he regretted less.

There were two or three tour sponsors who weren't exactly friendly towards gays, and after endless discussions with the management, they had agreed to keep their relationship secret until after the US-tour.  
Even now, after less than a week, Roger wished they had not given in. They had enough things to keep secret, the fact that they loved each other should not be one of them. Not in 2015 and certainly not because of a few bigoted, homophobic morons.

The conference did not even last an hour, but it seemed much longer to him.

It was so exhausting. To concentrate on the often so stupid questions, not to look over at Nick. To smile and be friendly.

_Tomato salad. One more month and three weeks, I can't do this. Tomato salad_

Days like this were particularly terrible. Days when they did not perform. When everything revolved around interviews, meetings with sponsors.  
Being so close to Nick and yet so far away. And Nick looked so great, so beautiful. Everyone was allowed to adore his Dom but him. It wasn't right, it just wasn't right. Tomato salad.

Later there`s a party with the sponsors. With the homophobic bigots.  
Roger tried to keep the distance between himself and the man he loved, but his lover was suddenly standing right behind him at the buffet. 

_Oh no!_

Just smelling Nick almost killed him. No one in the whole world smelled as good as Nick.

"No tomato salad, huh?" The nonchalant casualness in Nick's voice made his dick twitch.

"I don't even like tomato salad."  
What Nick knew. It was always good to come up with a safe word that had nothing to do with pleasure. And Roger hated tomatoes. And Nick fucking knew that.  
“Really? But tomatoes are very healthy, you know?”

"Tomatoes are little, nasty cheats! With their wonderful red colour, they make you believe they are delicious and sweet. But they taste like shit.”  
“You do the poor tomatoes an injustice, Roger. They're protecting you. They protect your cells from destruction by free radicals." Nick chuckled.  
“My cells are perfectly fine, thank you. I don`t need protection.”

_You may destroy my cells at any time. With a cane, or with that rubber whip you used yesterday. Man, that destroyed a lot of cells. Pretty radical. Fuck! No! Do not think about it, do not think about it!_

“Uh. I'm going out for a smoke.”

“Better not. Our sponsors do not like to see that.” God. He was so close, his breath sweeping over his neck like a caress.

“Our sponsors are hypocritical, mendacious…”

“Roger!” That voice. Quiet, warning and somehow threatening. 

“But it`s true!” Roger said defiantly, finally turning to face the man behind him.

The man he loved. His Dom. His world. His fucking universe.

“That is ridiculous, Nick. I am 45 years old, and if I want to smoke, I can fucking do that!”

“Of course you can.” Nick smiled, green eyes twinkling. “You are a big boy.”

Roger`s knees got weak. Boy. He was. Nick`s boy.  
Nick`s not-so very-obedient boy.

And only he knew what that twinkle meant, only he could see the slight mockery behind that smile. The promise in what seemed to be amusement.

“Go, have a smoke then. I`ll see you later.” The slightest touch of that tender hand on his shoulder. That tender hand which could be so cruel, so deliciously cruel, and he was gone.

Roger let out a shivering breath he didn`t know he was holding. One month, three weeks. He would never gonna make it! 

On shaky legs he exited the ballroom the party was hold in, knowing there was a balcony somewhere used as some kind of smoker`s lounge,

He was infinitely glad to find Simon standing against the balustrade, blowing blue smoke in the air.  
“Sucks, huh?” the tall singer winked, offering him a cigarette.  
“Thanks. It does. Big time.”  
“I am sorry for this, Rog. I`m sorry for this bloody charade you two have to play here.”

_You could have thought of that earlier. All of you could have thought about it._

Rog angrily pushed the bitterness aside, the feeling of having been left all alone by his friends. They could all have stood up for them, couldn't they? Could have said they didn't want homophobic sponsors

Fuck, but they needed those sponsors! 

This wasn`t about Nick and him, it was about Duran Duran. The band should not be disadvantaged just because they had two gay members. They all couldn't help it that there were homophobic assholes in this world and they wouldn’t change that, too.  
“It`s ok, Simon. We will survive.”

“Have you seen the one from Bluetrade.inc? That fat little toad? I swear, he`s disgusting. Slimy. Greasy. Disgusting. He tells flat jokes all the time and expects everyone to laugh. I ran away from him.” Simon rolled his eyes, sipping his drink.

Roger could need one as well, but he`d decided to stay all sober. For the few hours he would have with Nick later. He would have to sneak into Nick's room like a damn thief, always on guard against being noticed. At least the room to the left was empty and to the right of Nick`s was John`s.  
John was the only one who knew everything. Nick's best friend.  
That's why his lover, his Dom, dared to use that rubber whip last night. It was quiet. Quieter than the cane, the impact dull and muffled. That had been a nice surprise.

Roger smiled at the thought, fighting the need to rub his sore ass.  
However, he could easily have done without the beloved extended flag sessions for the duration of the tour. This part of their relationship did not belong in hotel rooms with paper-thin walls. Nick had other ways to dominate him, ways that were no less fulfilling.  
It was the loud, uninhibited sex that was missing. He loved to be loud, and after only a week he knew he wasn't the only one.  
John and Gela were very loud. And Anna. Simon even had loud telephone sex.

That was unfair. They were all allowed to be loud, to shout out their love and lust, even if some hotel guests complained.

But he had to bite the pillow, just because he was gay. Just because he didn't fuck a woman, but was fucked. In the ass. Deep and hard. He would have loved to scream.  
He sighed.  
“What are you drinking, Charlie?”  
“Bourbon. They don`t even have a proper scotch.”  
“Can I have a sip of that?”  
“Sure. You`ll need it. because here comes the toad. With Nick and Johnny in tow. Now we have to suck up to him, Roger. Main sponsor. Did I mention I'm sorry?”  
Goodness, Simon hadn`t lied! The man did look like a slimy, fat toad. And that slimy, fat toad had his arm around Nick`s shoulder. That creature dared to touch his precious Nick!  
“Ah, gentlemen! How pleasant to have you all here. On behalf of Blue trade I would like to raise a toast to good cooperation. We are extraordinarily happy to accompany your tour.

The whiskey the man was holding in his hand was apparently not his first. And if he didn't take his arm off Nick's shoulder soon...  
Roger clenched his hands into fists and drilled his nails into the palms.

 _Don't look. Just don't look at it. Relax. This will all be over soon._  
“Oh, Mister Taylor, I do not think we have been introduced yet.” The toad smiled at him and reached out a hand. “Vincent Donahue, Marketing director of Bluetrade.Inc.”  
At least he had finally let Nick go.  
"Roger Taylor, rhythm director of Duran Duran.” Donahue laughed and slapped Roger chummy on the back.

It wasn't that bad. It really wasn't.  
He seemed to like Roger and stayed by his side, and that was good, because that way he could not touch Nick.  
After a while Roger almost liked the man.

He was a good speaker and what he said was actually interesting. 

It probably all would have gone well if that waiter hadn't shown up.

This petite, girlish waiter who screamed gay with every fibre of his body.  
Vincent...they were on first name terms by now...looked at the man so disparagingly as if he were a disgusting insect and watched him leaving after he had served the drinks.  
“They are everywhere.” Even his voice sounded disgusted. “Those little perverted ass-fuckers trying to make us think it's normal.”  
Roger was pretty sure that the pretty waiter was not an ass -fucker. He would have bet his own ass that he was a bottom, but this detail would certainly not interest Vincent.

 _Change the subject. Think. Fuck. Don`t let him deepen this topic_  
But his head was like empty.  
“Roger, my friend, do you know what`s the difference between a faggot and a refrigerator?”

_I`m not your friend, asshole, I`m so not your friend!_

“The fridge doesn`t fart when you pull the meat out.” Again, Vincent slapped his back, laughing about his own joke, waiting for Roger to join in.  
Except for that dirty laughter, everything was quiet. Everyone had heard this so-called joke, nobody laughed.  
But Vincent obviously wanted Roger to laugh, his friend Roger.

_Main sponsor….main sponsor…main sponsor! Come on, Taylor, laugh!_

He couldn`t . He just couldn`t. If he laughed now, he would betray himself. Nick, their love. Every single gay man on the planet. He began to tremble with rage. Why was that so hard? He had heard stupid jokes before, many stupid jokes, but that was enough now. 

He just couldn't. 

His eyes were looking for Nick, he needed Nick.  
"Tomato salad."

“Pardon me?” Vincent stared at him as if he`d lost his mind. 

“Me and my husband will laugh later, Mr. Donahue.”

Nick. Nick's arm around his waist, Nick's lips on his. 

"Come, love, let's go.”  
John and Simon followed them, but Roger barely noticed.

_I fucked up. Main sponsor, I messed up the tour. For one tasteless joke._

“Let`s take the exit in the back.” Simon said. “Lots of fans in the front.”

“No, Charlie. We'll go out front, call a taxi."

"As you wish, controller"

Roger almost laughed. Almost.

Once they were outside the building, Nick grabbed him and kissed him passionately. In front of all the fans, in front of all the reporters who had persevered. 

“I'm so sorry, Roger. I should never have let this happen, never! We'll never pretend we don't love each other again because I love you, I love you to death and there's no need to hide it.”

Epilogue

Roger blinked.  
Fuck. He fell asleep. In Nick`s room! He had to disappear before one of the maids showed up, anyone, anyone who would betray them...

“Good morning, my sweet boy. You slept like a log. How about breakfast? Or rather, lunch.”

Roger`s stomach growled and Nick`s warm laughter filled the room, a tender hand stroking his hair.  
And then he remembered.  
Donahue, the waiter, the stupid joke. Nick kissing him in front of fans and reporters.  
“We made it to the news, love. And my, do we look good together!”  
He stared at Nick in astonishment, shame rushing over him.  
"I am such a loser. Oh, god. I'm sorry, Nick, I'm so sorry!"

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“But...the tour!”

“Blue trade has backed out.”  
Why did Nick smile? It was a bloody disaster and it was his fault. 

“You were so right, my love. We should never have done this. I'm sorry I asked you to do that, Roger. I'm a lousy Dom and an even worse partner.”

“You are not. How can you even think that?”

“You safe-worded.”

“That was... I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to laugh. That's easy, isn't it? But I couldn't...and he...this asshole...he touched you...and everyone's allowed to have sex but us and...oh god, I'm talking unbelievable nonsense, aren't I?”

“Roger, you have never used that word before, never. And you shouldn't have to use it because some slimy, homophobic asshole almost made you betray yourself.”

“But…the tour! The band means everything to you, Nick, and I blew it!”

“It doesn`t.”

“Huh?”

“The band. It' s not everything to me. You mean everything to me.”

“But…they backed off.”

“They did. Because they are assholes we should never have worked with. But you know what? After we were in the news, three new sponsors came forward. The tour is saved and we both are the new heroes of the gay movement. Wooo-hooo! Now eat something. Because you need energy. From now on, you can scream, Roger, and I intend to take advantage of that.”


End file.
